3 injured, 2 critical, in early morning car crash on Richmond Avenue in Bulls Head

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An early morning car crash left three men critically injured after striking a tree along Richmond Avenue in Bulls Head, according to police.

The accident occurred at around 3 a.m. on Sunday when a driver slammed his 2001 red Honda CRV into a tree at a bend in the road along Richmond Avenue near Croft Place, said an NYPD spokesman.

Witnesses say that the impact caused the car to flip vertically on its grill, pinning the vehicle against a tree and trapping the driver and his passengers inside. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, the police spokesman said.

A law enforcement source said police are investigating whether alcohol played a role in the accident.

One witness, John Lopiano, 24, said he observed police removing several bottles of alcohol from the vehicle, but the NYPD spokesman could not immediately confirm that account.

"I saw one cop pull three huge bottles of alcohol out from the front seat of the car," said John Lopiano, 24, who lives near the accident site. He could not tell if the bottles were opened.

He and another witness watched as firefighters used a Hurst tool to help extract the three men from the mangled wreck. The front-side passenger, Lopiano said, was screaming in pain and covered in blood, while the driver and back seat passenger remained motionless.

Debris from the car was littered around the crash scene for hours after the accident before an NYPD tow truck eventually came to remove the badly damaged automobile.

Police said that the back seat passenger had the most severe injuries, and was transported to Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze. The driver and front passenger were both transported to Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton, in critical condition.

--This story has been updated with additional information from police and witnesses